CAST: (feature film)

Education

Cornell University:
Ithaca , New York -

New York University:
New York , New York -

Notes

Webster earned 16 Oscar nominations in his career.

Contributions

albatros1 ( 2008-01-11 )

Source: not available

Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist.
He was born in New York City, where he attended the Horace Mann School, graduating in 1926, and then went to Cornell University and New York University, leaving without receiving a degree. He served in the United States Navy and then became a dance instructor at a studio in New York City. By 1931, however, he turned his career direction to writing song lyrics. His first professional lyric was Masquerade which became a hit in 1932, performed by Paul Whiteman.
In 1935 Twentieth Century Fox signed him to a contract to write lyrics for Shirley Temple's films, but shortly afterward he went back to freelance writing. His first hit was a collaboration in 1941 with Duke Ellington on the song "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)".
After 1950, Webster worked mostly for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He won two Academy Awards in collaboration with Sammy Fain, "Secret Love" in 1953 and "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" 1955, and another with Johnny Mandel, "The Shadow of Your Smile" in 1965. Altogether, sixteen of his songs received Academy Award nominations, more than the number for any other lyricist. In addition, a large number of his songs became major hits on the popular music charts.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972[3].
He died in Beverly Hills, California and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.